Update 2: We’ve got new info on the subject. Apparently this pack will only work with Razer’s “Hydra” motion controller, which is based on Sixense. The Motion Pack will be available at Portal 2′s launch, featuring completely new test chambers and testing elements. Sadly, it seems that the Antigravity Gun will not be in the base game, but perhaps some crafty modders will take the pack and get it to work on the PC. We’ve got our fingers crossed. We’ve got all this info, and some new gameplay, in a new video we’ve embedded (it’s the first one down there).

Update: Turns out there’s an entire booth dedicated to Portal 2 on the Sixense! Scroll down for the new videos.

Yet again, Valve sneaks up on everyone, this time to show Portal 2 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, running on Razer’s revolutionary Sixense motion control system, on the PC, with Intel’s new Sandy Bridge chipset, during the Intel keynote.

But just when you thought you weren’t gonna give a damn… Bam! Valve suddenly shows off a new functionality for the Portal Gun, the “Antigravity gun”!

.. which bears an incredible resemblance to HL2′s “Physgun” featured at E3 2003, and that was at one point, planned to be included in HL2! Some of you might know it from Garry’s Mod, where Garry Newman revived it for use in his spectacular mod.

This antigravity gun, or tractor beam, if you prefer, allows you to grab objects from a distance using a light-blue energy beam, pushing or pulling them towards you, as well as shrinking and stretching them.

In the tech demo, this is used by grabbing a box with the tractor beam, then stretching (or shrinking? My apologies, as I am currently on a horrendous laptop that failed to even play the video properly) it so that it is large enough to break a window down below.

The tech demo continues as the player enters a different test chamber, and uses the antigravity gun on a turret directly in front of him. He then pushes it farther away, and into the path of a Thermal Discouragement Beam.

Gabe leaves the stage, but the tech demo continues for a bit more.

Under the screen, a small logo says “Portal 2: Sixense Motion Pack”. Does this mean that the Antigravity Gun will feature in the full PC/PS3/X360 game, but that the Sixense functionality will only be present in this Motion Pack, perhaps together with some new chambers?

Or does it mean that the Antigravity Gun will be exclusive to this Motion Pack? Or perhaps the Antigravity Gun won’t appear in the game or the pack at all? What if it was created only for the tech demo?

Whatever happens, this Sixense Motion Pack will most likely be free of charge, well, except for the actual Razer Sixense motion sensing hardware. And our awesome Source modders will likely find a way to give us anything that’s missing.

Oh, and the demo happened to be running on Intel’s “Sandy Bridge” processor, which, according to Gabe:

“A Sandy Bridge system can be up to 75% faster than previous generation Core processors, and up to 850% faster than old Core 2 Duo models.”

He also praises its ability to integrate not only the abilities of a prcessor and a GFX card, both in one single chip, by saying:

“It’s a real game changer for us. This allows for a console like experience on the PC.”

He means that with the Sandy Bridge, it will be much easier to set up a PC, upgrade, and play system-taxing games.

Very interesting. It’s strange, however. The most recent Source games only say “Source Engine 15″, or something to that effect. A skip to 2001? Strange. As for the menu, it seems interesting. While we had seen it previously at PAX, it wasn’t an in-depth look. I hope it’s better than L4D and AS’s menus, which could become annoying after a while.

I assume that if the Antigravity Gun won’t be a Sixense exclusive (I really hope so), They will have the gravity gun switch to the Antigravity mode once you have picked up something, then in that mod instead of shooting portals you could manipulate the objects using a keyboard (or right mouse) key (notice how the player cannot move while he manipulates the objects) so you won’t need any special gaming hardware to have this on the PC (or PS3).

Also I’m pretty sure that the Sixense Motion Sensing Hardware compatibility for Portal 2 was one of the reasons for the delays.

Excellent observation. Not being able to move while doing it could indicate that they are trying to find a solution to the Physgun’s main problem (controls), on the PC. As for the delay.. hmm, who knows. The main problem with Portal is, as always, testing the game, which is why Erik Wolpaw said that they had finished Portal 1 in 2006 and that the rest of the development time was testing. With all the new testing elements, it’s certainly possible that they just needed some time to make everything as great as it can possibly be. After all, Gabe did describe it as “their greatest game”.

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